THE MOMENT
"Why did you p-p-pick m-me??!" Lucy asked. She gladly accepted the heavy blue and gold jacket the tallest girl offered. She was grateful to have fallen asleep in her clothes because she woke up in a frigid, snow-covered landscape in front of three girls. The tallest one looked like a high-school senior. She had short light brown hair that framed her face. A pair of metallic-blue framed spectacles completed the look.
The other two girls were obviously twins and they appeared to be around 10 or so. They had matching shoulder-length dark brown hair. But, their different eye colors made them easy to tell apart. One had dark brown eyes and the other had light green. All three wore heavy jackets like the one that Lucy put on. As she did, she noticed a logo on the front that said "Star Academy".
"I didn't," the tallest one said with a shrug. "You were a random pick. I'm Cassie," she said. Then, she gestured at the two girls, the green-eyed one first. "That's Six, and her sister, 23. C'mon," she tilted her head in a direction, then the three girls started walking.
"Random pick??" Lucy followed; but, she was flabbergasted. She heard the rules along with the rest of the world. She didn't think she would see the next morning and drank herself to sleep. She only had a few friends and all of them already had their three partners picked out. None of them told Lucy to be ready, "just in case." The idea that someone could leave such an important decision up to chance was almost beyond her comprehension. She quickly caught up to Cassie.
"Aliens picked you to help reset the Earth and you just said, 'give me whoever??'," Lucy asked.
"Aliens!? WHERE!?" Six's head rapidly swiveled in all directions; but, her sister calmed her down.
"There are no aliens, remember?" 23 said.
"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked. As she did, Cassie flicked her wrist upward. Then, she began tapping and swiping at something invisible. Lucy looked at all three of them with a confused expression. "Aliens broadcast-," she stopped speaking mid-sentence and Cassie turned to look at the girls.
"Aliens aren't real; but, as far as the lore for this game goes, they are," she shrugged. "Got it?"
"Yes!" Six nodded.
"Yeah," 23 agreed.
"Okay," Cassie tapped another button on her Slate and Lucy finished her sentence.
"-the rules!"
"OHHHH THOSE ALIENS!" Six said. "Of course THOSE aliens are real." Somehow, Six's reassurances only left Lucy more suspicious. Not that she had many options as one of the four people in Antarctica.
"How are four women going to rebuild the country?" Lucy asked.
"Nah, we're not doing that," Cassie gave a dismissive gesture. "It's just a good place to practice; there's no one else around for thousands of miles."
"Practice? Practice what?" Lucy asked. Her mind felt like she was drowning in information and the only way out was to ask more questions.
"Practice this," Cassie grinned. She held her hand out with the palm facing up; but, Lucy was more distracted by her eyes. Golden stars appeared in her eyes, then Lucy noticed her palm was glowing with a bright blue, almost white light.
When Lucy woke up in the snowscape, she thought it was the coldest she'd ever felt, and she was right about that. She also thought it was the coldest she would ever feel; that's where she was wrong. She leaned closer to the light in Cassie's palm out of curiosity.
"Not too close," Cassie warned her. As if to demonstrate why, the light pulsed in Cassie's hand. Lucy felt a frigid wave of air wash over her. The coldness penetrated the thick coat she wore, and she felt ice grip her bones.
"Whoa...," Lucy had to step back and try to get warm in the snow.
"What do you need me for?" Lucy asked with a hopeful tone. "Am I going to learn that?"
"She is," Cassie shook her head and gestured at 23 at the same time. "You're here to help Six practice."
"Huh?" Lucy turned and looked at the green-eyed twin. Her mind was thoroughly boggled. She did not know what was going on and she did not want to be there anymore. If she had the spare brainpower to be scared, she would have been terrified at everything that happened to her since she woke up.
"C'mon!" Six grabbed Lucy's hand and led her away from Cassie and 23. Her green eyes glowed with a faint light. "I want to hear all about the aliens!" Six said.
"YES! I want to tell you all about them!" Lucy cheered. She was so eager to talk about aliens. Everything else; her fears and worries, they could all wait. She was thrilled someone finally wanted to talk about aliens as much as she did.